Sam Chandler – Page 3 – Blogs Don't Burn

February 9, 2020March 2, 2021

Short Story: ‘A Dance of Two’

An adaption of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett’s first meeting in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Mr Bingley: Once again I am blown away by the wonderous joys that life can bestow when one revels in good company! Every young lady and noble man I have met this evening has surpassed my wildest expectations in beauty, good humour and learning! I must control the urge to let excitement overtake my refined demeanour, yet dancing remains a superb outlet to express such passionate good mood! If only Darcy could experience the same highs as I do in company such as this, or indeed in any company. He seems content to live his life as

Mrs Bennet: the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world! Lurking like a phantom on the fringes of the hall, eyeing everyone with poorly masked disdain. A gentleman indeed! He certainly has nothing in the way of looks. Not like that charming Mr Bingley. Rich, well-bred and as handsome as can be ever imagined! He is the stark opposite of Mr Darcy, whom I despised the moment I set eyes on him! As for Mr Darcy’s rumoured wealth, well, let’s just say I have heard mutterings from numerous reputable sources that denounce such claims as outrageous and unfounded drivel! Still, even if the man were as moneyed as the King, I would not have him consorting with my beautiful Jane, or Elizabeth, or even Mary! Wealth and aristocratic airs don’t impress me! Lord knows even lumpy Mr Lucas would be better suited for my girls than that miserable man! Look how Lizzy sits there with no offer of dance from Mr Darcy. The poor girl is abandoned in cruel isolation, putting on a brave smile to mask her

January 20, 2020March 10, 2021

Islamism and the ‘Clash of Civilisations’

Background: This academic essay was written in early 2019. In it, I aimed to explore the rise of ‘Islamism’ in the Middle East, an ideology emerging from Islam that claims to represent the political wing of the faith . In light of recent tensions between the United States and Iran after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, I thought now would be an appropriate time to post this essay. Today, Iran is the only internationally recognized state to have adopted ‘Islamic rule’ and ‘shariah law’ as its official mode of government.

Despite this, the ideological convictions driving Iran have not been articulated effectively in the international press, and as a result are not well understood by the public. Hopefully this essay will go some way in bridging this gap of understanding. Whilst the focus here is not on Iran per se, the proliferation of Islamism in that country and across the Muslim World is a development that continues to have a huge impact on efforts at diplomacy in the region. It therefore needs to be understood before an effective solution can be offered.

January 8, 2020January 9, 2021

The Philosopher-King of Rome

A review of Donald Robertson’s How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (2019).

This intriguing new book by Donald Robertson centers around the life of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD); a man for whom philosophy was no mere academic affair. Elevated to the head of the most powerful Empire in the world, despite his own reluctance to inherit the Imperial throne, Marcus would go on to become one of the most celebrated political leaders in history. The admiration still directed towards the reign of Marcus Aurelius is an especially impressive feat given the state of chaos that Rome would lapse into soon after his ascension.

In the North, war would break out across the frontier of the Empire. The thin line separating the territories of Rome from the barbarous lands of Germania strained under pressure from the Germanic hordes now bearing down on it from above. In Egypt, a powerful former ally would rebel against Marcus with all the power of the East at his back, nearly triggering a civil war. Meanwhile, across the towns and cities of the Roman heartlands, the Antonine Plague would spread. Brought back by returning soldiers from the Near East, this vicious disease would claim the lives of thousands of Romans both rich and poor alike, eventually killing Marcus himself whilst stationed by the frosty waters of the River Danube. The Emperor’s personal life would prove just as tumultuous. In addition to the death of his cousin-wife, the Empress Faustina, Marcus would have to cope with the loss of all but five of his thirteen children. His only surviving son and unruly heir Commodus would grow to become a murderous despot, eventually being assassinated by his political rivals. Suffice to say, Marcus’ was not a peaceful reign.

November 16, 2019March 31, 2020

Into the Gulag: The Prisons of Soviet Russia

This new video, made for Blogs Don’t Burn by filmmaker James Arnold, tells the story of the Soviet Gulags; a vast and complex network of prisons and forced-labor camps which stretched across the USSR throughout much of its history. Started under Lenin and hugely expanding under Stalin, this system would swallow up millions of lives for good. Many prisoners were incarcerated for decades, solely for the crime of thinking and writing against the regime.

This video is dedicated to the prisoners of the Gulag, the dissenters who spoke out for them, and for all the other victims of the 20^th century whose names have been lost to history.

October 30, 2019January 9, 2021

A Modern Day Hero?

A review of John Williams’ Stoner (1965).

This classic novel from 1965 by American author (and professor of English) John Williams tells the story of William Stoner, a stoic farm boy from rural Missouri, who emerges from a sparse and colourless existence into the world of the University campus. The “campus novel” subgenre, a literary tradition dating back to the 1950s, is a niche yet rich source of storytelling, and John Williams manages to take this rarefied area and spin it into a story which at once feels both human and relatable.

The story’s protagonist, whose name ‘William’ is derived from the author’s surname, starts off as an outsider to the rarefied world of academia. With the aim of aiding the family farm, Stoner attends the University of Missouri to study agriculture. However, after taking a mandatory literature survey course in his second year, he soon discovers an obsession for literature and learning which leads to a lifelong career with the Department of English. It is indicative of the unique type of story with which we are dealing that the most distance actually travelled by our protagonist is from farm to campus. Ultimately it is the internal journey of Stoner, in all its emotional and psychological subtlety, that makes each page more compelling than the last.

October 30, 2019October 30, 2019

Short Story: ‘Chroniker’

On our fourth day alive we killed the elderly, as has always been the custom. Three days of tolerance, of something like restraint, then when the great Chroniker chugged into gear for another cycle, we had at it. I would not have waited so long, but tradition does have some brief part to play in life’s journey.

The three-day rule has its purposes, of course. The baton being passed, lessons from yesterday brightening today. But frankly, my people need very little instruction before being ready to blaze out into the world, and our days are far too few to be spent lingering in lecture halls, enduring those withering old Tenners droning on and on about bygone decades. Five, seven, even ten minutes at a time we are expected to just sit and listen! If you knew anything at all about my race, traveller, you might appreciate a little more how tortuous that kind of patience really is.

October 30, 2019January 9, 2021

“Let the Mad Dog Bark!” – On the Social Media Ban of Alex Jones and InfoWars

Backlog: this article was written August 23rd 2018

An issue which has been doing the rounds recently online, but which has so far failed to attract much mainstream media attention in the UK, is the decision by three major tech companies – YouTube, Apple and Facebook, to ban the controversial content of Alex Jones and his site InfoWars. Those unfamiliar with Alex Jones and his work should probably take a few moments to count themselves lucky.

InfoWars is an online hotbed of frenzied political rhetoric and elaborate conspiracy theories, which in the past have included claims such as that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, that Barack Obama is the global head of Al-Qaeda, that the U.S. Government is using juice boxes to “make children gay”, and that the U.S. Air Force has in the past created weaponized tornadoes in the Midwest as part of an enduring geo-war against the American people. Come to think of it there may just be a H.G. Wells-style short story in that last one…

October 29, 2019January 9, 2021

Boris and the Burka: discussing the Danish Ban

Backlog: this article was written August 12th 2018

Update: 29/10/2019 – As Boris Johnson is now our new Prime Minister, there is clearly more reason than in August 2018 to be talking about him. However, if Boris’ polemical style hadn’t been so effective in boosting his popularity over the years, then this article likely wouldn’t have needed to be written. It remains to be seen how Mr Johnson handles his position – complex and insecure as it is right now. But, if the first few months of his leadership have been anything to go by, it looks like there will be quite few substantive issues to call him out on in the coming years. Strap in my friends, it looks to be a bumpy road ahead.

A lot has been said in recent weeks about the controversial comments made by Boris Johnson in an article he penned for the Daily Telegraph, concerning the recent law banning the burka in Denmark. In the cacophony of noise, rage and moral panic surrounding his article, in which he compared Muslim women wearing burkas to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”, there has been shockingly little discussion on the actual substance of Mr Johnson’s article.

October 27, 2019November 7, 2019

Short Story: ‘Sweet Tooth’

An adaption of the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

The convenience store across the road got a delivery today. Big box of candy, Kit Kats, Hershey Bars – that sorta thing. Saw the little shit who works there too. Ignores me when I want his attention, snickers to himself while I’m buying jimmies, asks if I need help across the road behind a mask of smugness on his pimply, pubescent face! I’ve been trying to take my mind off it, dangerous and reckless thoughts being what they are and all. But strolling over there with that Gary Cooper walk I used to do on a job, taking some candy and swiping all the cash is… well… tempting to say the least. I could afford to buy that whole shop now, Hershey Bars and all. Yet eating them day and night while they lie in crates at my feet wouldn’t give me a fraction of the satisfaction id get from just taking one, using that universal currency of fear.

They were my Crew, I was their leader. We split scores down the middle, equal pay. We got shot at, we shot back, we ran, we fought, we suffered, we celebrated, and we got richer. Good and bad, we shared the burden of our mistakes and the fruits of our labour. Those days were the best of my life, I’ve never felt more alive as when I was so close to death!

October 27, 2019January 11, 2021

Short Story: ‘Horrorshow Roundabout’

Written in the style of Anthony Burgess ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Most of the language is taken directly, other parts have been created for the purposes of the story.

“What will it be then? You lowest of souls, most diligent workers, sufferers of Bourgeois oppression, what is your choice? Revolution or Slavery?”

Now now Comrades, no need to be getting all razdrazzed already! I viddy these starry-timer slovos are tough to ken for some of you simpler droogs of mine, so please allow your Humble Orator to explain in good old salted-earth Nadsat! That’s the lingo spoken by me and mine up and down this country in every workhouse and proleshed from here to the big grey sea. Quite a lingo it is too! All cockney, Slavic and commoner slovos bundled up together-like in a real powerful shared goloss for us revolting so-and-sos! Many a time in the old world did some uppity lewdie get all spooked-up by our collective goloss. None of us gave a cal then, so why would we now?